KTM Duke 125 Review

Hi All,

I'm new on here and thought i would share a review of my new and first bike as I found it very hard to get any info on this before buying...it may prove usfeful to someone else.

Firstly I'm 33, been driving since i was 18 so plenty of road experience. I have a 20 mile daily round trip to the train station and with rising costs not only to run a car but to park the bloody thing i thought it was about time i did what i should have done years ago....get my CBT and a bike.

Im a big lad at 6'2" and 14.5 stone so finding a 125 was a little daunting. i did plenty of research and came to a few conclusions.

I ruled out:

2 strokes on efficiency, noise and reliability ( possibily misconceived ?!)

second hand bikes as i wanted support for my first bike

sportsbikes on practicality

Yamaha's on price!

Honda Varadero on dealer incentives and on principle after the dealer did not call me when he said he would.

most Chinese bikes (cos im a snob and a worry wart!)

This left me with:

Sinnis - British design & chinese build, some good sized bikes but relatively unknown...lack of dealers.

Derbi Terra - production in the process of being moved to italy so no stock for some time

KTM Duke 125 - new and unreviewed at the time built by Bajaj in india.

with KTM's motorsport reputation and for building sturdy machines i visited Jim Aim KTM in Essex and was given as much info as they had on the bike..whilst also being able to sit and see one in the flesh. it has a newly designed engine two built specifically for the bike and to the 15hp limit. It is NOT a restricted engine though so you will NOT be able to release another 5 hp or so with an exhaust etc... it is built to spec.

its a DOHC with valves operated by fingers i think..much like the ducatis but i could be wrong on that. its sounds great and runs smooth even when cold and given its lack of mileage.

Its a big bike for a 125..big upside down forks, wide tank, excellent riding position and as 125's go...looked pretty cool. it also has a WP rear shock which is adjustable for preload for the (ahem) heavier rider

Dealer incentives were available as being either discounted finance deals, £350 of powerparts/powergear or discounted insurance. however my liek was in as KTM ere doinga deal that week of offering addition £350 of powerparts on any KTM sold that week.

I slept on the idea for night or two and took them up on the offer!

I've put 100 miles on it since saturday

it does need to be run in - limited to 7500 rpm for the first 620miles then it will be free to rev to the 10.5k red line.

In the first 100 miles ive come to appreciate the excellent fully digital dash which is clearly visible in all conditions. It offers:

in gear gear indicator - excellent for the novice like me

Tacho

Speedo

Odo

2 x trip computers

fuel level

programmable shift indicator ( handy for the run in period)

Oil Temp

I really cannot fault the display and it adds to the quality feel of the bike.

It pulls smoothly but 1st is pretty much only good for getting the bike going. But it is also happy sitting in 6th gear at 35 which on a commute is handy for costs.

Obviously my riding exprience is limited so i can't give a really detailed review of its ability as hte bikes ability is greater than mine! however I can say that the steering seems to respond very well and on the back roads particularly going though a chicane style series of bends which originally daunted me it really inspires confidence - the big bike style road tyres help as does the 120kgs it weighs. Brakes are excellent already and they are still obviously very new.

As part of the deal i chose to have my Alarm fitted and the Tank bag - a lot of trick bits, although looking excellent offered me no real value to start with so i will get those as and when i fancy them.

A word of warning on the alarm. KTM charge a whopping £280 including the £40 fitting kit for this alarm. Ive since discovered two things. The alarm is a Meta Defcon T and can be bought elsewhere for as little as £70! but a typical price is £150. you will still need the fitting kit but save your vouchers for something else!

Also the alarm takes up the space that was used by the tool kit..the only space for the tool kit is therefore under the main seat which means you need to carry a 10mm spanner seperately to take that off...grr.

If you are a new rider - hindsight tells me to use the vouchers on stuff you will need (jacket/gloves/lock etc..) just my opinion.

obviously it is still early days and i will let you now how i get on but at the moment I couldnt have made a better choice.

and thanks to Wayne and Alastair at Jim Aim for their help... would recomend the company...so far (disclaimer)

hi mate , welcome to the forums , really nice bike hope u enjoy it ,

alot better looking than most of the other 125's out there

What a beautiful machine for a 125! I thought the YZF would be top dog for a while longer but it looks like theres a direct rival to it now

I reckon I will go and have a go on one, I need a bike to get around and that might be the cheap solution to doing it running wise. I've heard its a good price for what is frankly an over engineered 125. Good choice

Hi All,

Firstly I'm 33, been driving since i was 18 so plenty of road experience.

Totally different experience though .

Nice review, looks like a really nice bike...

I haven't ridden one but I've been keeping my eye on it since it's release. According to most reviews I've read it handles really well, which isn't a surprise considering it's a KTM. You've made a great choice, I only wish that bike had been available when I had a 125, KTM make fantastic bikes. Enjoy riding it.

Have a proper butchers here

http://www.ktm.com/125/125-duke-eu/360-ansicht.html

I think I might just have had a trouser accident!

Truly amazing this bike, since i looked at the KTM trailers it looks amazing. It would be the only 125 4T i would ever buy. However back when i got my Husqvarna 125 SM 2t it wasn't out back then so a bit bummed. The 15bhp seems Ok but not heard one in real life so no idea what they are like but my god do they look appealing.

Good luck fella.

It looks really mean, but can you get a less colouful version?

Strap 10 of those engines together and you get a 'decent' bike!

LOL

Less colourful?! Watcha talkin bout willis! KTM's should always be bright orange, with maybe a little white and black thrown in, it's how it's meant to be, god made it that way!

Less colourful?! Watcha talkin bout willis! KTM's should always be bright orange, with maybe a little white and black thrown in, it's how it's meant to be, god made it that way!

Exactly! It's the only colour scheme KTM's should come in.

What a lovely looking bike! It's a Duke - but smaller!

It's never going to be popular with a £4.5K price tag.

Has it been built with a competition class in mind?

I thought learner legal was 11bhp. How does this qualify with 15bhp?

The max is 11kW or 14.7 hp. Unless it appears on this list (which it doesn't at present) you would need to argue your case be able to use it to sit your tests on

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg ... 197021.pdf

It's never going to be popular with a £4.5K price tag.

Has it been built with a competition class in mind?

I thought learner legal was 11bhp. How does this qualify with 15bhp?

Don't quote me, but I thought learner legal was 15bhp...

Must be my age. I only measure electricals in Kw

Derbi have a couple of '15hp' learner legal bikes, but you cannot use them to sit your test on. Unless KTM argue their case with the DSA they will be the same.

Derbi have a couple of '15hp' learner legal bikes, but you cannot use them to sit your test on. Unless KTM argue their case with the DSA they will be the same.

There is a list of bikes in each test centre that can be used for test.

Derbi have a couple of '15hp' learner legal bikes, but you cannot use them to sit your test on. Unless KTM argue their case with the DSA they will be the same.

 

There is a list of bikes in each test centre that can be used for test.

I really didnt know that the test centre had a list of allowed bikes!

I was going to go to the Derbi Dealer in chelmsford but even they told me not to bother as they were shipping productino to italy after some shoddy recent examples from the ols spannish plant.

It's never going to be popular with a £4.5K price tag.

Thankfully the KTM was £3695..my limit was £3500 so bent that a little

the Yam WR125R was the other i was very intersted in was £4100 from local dealers with no real incentives.

Hi all, my first post here!

I am 46 and have just done my cbt. I needed a bike to do my commute, which includes some dual carriageway work and some fun riding. Because of this I felt I needed 15hp so looked at the duke and the yam r125. I preferred the riding position of the duke and the lack of expensive farings so decided on the duke.

They are getting hard to find now but after ringing around I found one at a dealer in the midlands and it is being delivered next week! Used the £350 voucher to get a jacket and a lock and will go shopping at the weekend for the rest.

One interesting thing to be aware of... The bikes are ecu limited to 100kph from the factory to meet EU regs but there is a new map coming in the next few days that will remove the restriction. Dealers will be able to remap it at the first service.

Can't wait to get mine. Will post my thoughts for what they are worth once I have it

Hi all, my first post here!

I am 46 and have just done my cbt. I needed a bike to do my commute, which includes some dual carriageway work and some fun riding. Because of this I felt I needed 15hp so looked at the duke and the yam r125. I preferred the riding position of the duke and the lack of expensive farings so decided on the duke.

They are getting hard to find now but after ringing around I found one at a dealer in the midlands and it is being delivered next week! Used the £350 voucher to get a jacket and a lock and will go shopping at the weekend for the rest.

One interesting thing to be aware of... The bikes are ecu limited to 100kph from the factory to meet EU regs but there is a new map coming in the next few days that will remove the restriction. Dealers will be able to remap it at the first service.

Can't wait to get mine. Will post my thoughts for what they are worth once I have it

Get off my username. I am the only Ryder around here.

Get off my username. I am the only Ryder around here.

Easy Ryder!!!

Oh, and welcome to both of you

One interesting thing to be aware of... The bikes are ecu limited to 100kph from the factory to meet EU regs but there is a new map coming in the next few days

interesting...dealers didnt say anything about that. BUT you wont get near 100kph for the first 640 miles as the running in limits you to about 45/50mph anyway.

i've just got though my first tank at 160 miles which is about 75 mpg...low revs and engine not worn in so thats not too bad imho

slight annoying fault has developed is the 4th gear sensor is not talking to the lcd display (my guess)..its intermittant so will be looked at at the first service.